EVERETT, Wash. (WFLA) – An alert couple found and rescued a baby from an apartment complex dumpster Friday night in Washington state.

Jeff and Paula Myers were passing by the trash compactor when they heard the baby crying. Paula immediately climbed into the dumpster and began digging through the trash.

“She jumped in, in her dress, into the compactor and pulled out maybe 20 bags of garbage. About two and a half feet down, and we’re all thinking, boy I really hope this is just – you know – she was saying, almost in tears, I hope this is just a toy. I hope this is just a toy and then a sound that I’ve never heard out of Paula in my life saying oh my God, it’s a real baby,” Jeff recounted.

The newborn boy was reportedly covered in blood and his umbilical cord was still attached.

The baby was immediately transported to the hospital where he is expected to survive.

There is no indication when or why the newborn was left in the dumpster.

“Someone had the baby and just discarded it into the garbage,” Meyers said. “It’s the saddest and sickest thing I’ve seen in my entire life”